Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF) is the title of the Indian Navy Officer who commands the Western Fleet, headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The FOCWF is a two star admiral holding the rank of Rear Admiral. The appointment is considered to be an important and a coveted one. The Current FOCWF is Rear Admiral Srinivas Maddula, who assumed office on 29 July 2026.
History After the independence and the partition of India on 15 August 1947, the ships and personnel of the Royal Indian Navy were divided between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan.Bhatia (1977), p. 28: "Consequent on the partition of the country on 15 August 1947, two thirds of the undivided fleet and associated assets came to India." The Chief of the Royal Indian Navy was designated Flag officer Commanding Royal Indian Navy (FOCRIN). Serving under him was the Commodore Commanding Indian Naval Squadron (COMINS), the precursor to the Fleet Commander. In 1951, the appointment was upgraded to Two-star rank and was designated Rear Admiral Commanding Indian Naval Squadron (RACINS). In 1952, with the increase in number of naval vessels, the appointment was designated Flag Officer (Flotillas) Indian Fleet (FOFIF) and Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet (FOCIF) in 1957.
With the establishment of the Eastern Naval Command on 1 March 1968, the Indian Fleet was renamed as the Western Fleet and the Commander was designated Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF).
The designations over time: 1947 – 1951 – Commodore Commanding Indian Naval Squadron (COMINS) 1951 – 1952 – Rear Admiral Commanding Indian Naval Squadron (RACINS) 1952 – 1957 – Flag Officer (Flotillas) Indian Fleet (FOFIF) 1957 – 1968 – Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet (FOCIF) 1968 – present – Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF)
Organisation The FOCWF is assisted by the fleet staff, headed by the Fleet Operations Officer (FOO), a one-star appointment. The Fleet Communications & Electronic Warfare Officer (FCO), Fleet Gunnery Officer (FGO), Fleet Navigation Officer (FNO), Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Officer (FASWO), Fleet Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Damage Control Officer (FNBCDO), Fleet Armament Officer (FARMO), Fleet Naval Architecture Officer (FNAO), Fleet Medical Officer (FMO), Fleet Engineering Officer (FEO) and Fleet Electrical Officer (FLO) make up the rest of the fleet staff.
List of Commanders S.No. Name Assumed office Left office NotesCommodore Commanding Indian Naval Squadron (COMINS)1Commodore John Talbot Savignac Hall August 1948April 19492Commodore H. N. S. BrownApril 194916 March 1950Seconded from the Royal Navy.3Commodore Geoffrey Barnard 16 March 19501 June 1951Seconded from the Royal Navy, later promoted Vice Admiral.Rear Admiral Commanding Indian Naval Squadron (RACINS)4Rear Admiral Geoffrey Barnard 1 June 19514 October 1951Seconded from the Royal Navy, later promoted Vice Admiral.5Rear Admiral N. V. Dickinson 5 October 195130 April 1952Seconded from the Royal Navy.Flag Officer (Flotillas) Indian Fleet (FOFIF)5Rear Admiral N. V. Dickinson 1 May 195226 November 1953Seconded from the Royal Navy.6Rear Admiral F. A. Ballance27 November 195319 April 1955Seconded from the Royal Navy.7Rear Admiral Sir St John Tyrwhitt 20 April 19552 October 1956Seconded from the Royal Navy, later promoted Admiral.8Rear Admiral Ram Dass Katari2 October 195630 December 1957First Indian flag officer and first Indian appointee. Later first Indian Chief of the Naval Staff.Flag Officer Commanding Indian Fleet (FOCIF)8Rear Admiral Ram Dass Katari 30 December 19572 April 1958Later First Indian Chief of the Naval Staff.9Rear Admiral Ajitendu Chakraverti 3 April 195816 April 196010Rear Admiral Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman17 April 196022 May 1962Later Chief of the Naval Staff.11Rear Admiral Adhar Kumar Chatterji22 May 19627 January 1964Later Chief of the Naval Staff.12Rear Admiral Benjamin Abraham Samson8 January 196431 May 1966Later Chief executive officer of Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders.13Rear Admiral Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda 1 June 196620 December 1967Later Chief of the Naval Staff, during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.14Rear Admiral Sourendra Nath Kohli 21 December 196729 February 1968Later Chief of the Naval Staff.Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF)14Rear Admiral Sourendra Nath Kohli 1 March 19681 January 1969Later Chief of the Naval Staff.15Rear Admiral V. A. Kamath 2 January 19692 November 1970Later served as the First Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.16Rear Admiral Elenjikal Chandy Kuruvila 2 November 197027 March 1973Fleet Commander during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.17Rear Admiral Kirpal Singh March 1973November 1973Became a successful businessman after leaving the navy. Founded Dolphin Offshore Enterprises.18Rear Admiral Swaraj Parkash November 197322 April 1974Captain of during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Later Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.19Rear Admiral Nar Pati Datta 22 April 19749 October 1975Later Deputy Chief of Naval Staff20Rear Admiral R. K. S. Ghandhi 20 October 19752 March 1976Also commanded the Eastern Fleet. Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.21Rear Admiral M. R. Schunker3 March 19762 February 1977Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.22Rear Admiral Manohar Prahlad Awati 3 August 19774 March 1979Later served as Commandant of the National Defence Academy and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command23Rear Admiral Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani 4 March 197912 May 1980Later Chief of the Naval Staff.24Rear Admiral Subimal Mookerjee 12 May 198030 May 1981Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.25Rear Admiral Jayant Ganpat Nadkarni 30 May 198111 August 1982Later Chief of the Naval Staff.26Rear Admiral K. K. Nayyar 11 August 198228 March 1983Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.27Rear Admiral I. J. S. Khurana28 March 198312 February 1985Later Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.28Rear Admiral S. C. Chopra 12 February 198526 February 1986Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.29Rear Admiral Vijai Singh Shekhawat 26 February 19869 July 1987Later Chief of the Naval Staff. 30Rear Admiral KASZ Raju 9 July 19877 March 1989Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.31Rear Admiral Inderjit Bedi 7 March 198912 September 1990Later Fortress Commander, Andaman and Nicobar Islands.32Rear Admiral K. K. Kohli 12 September 199031 October 1991Later Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.33Rear Admiral A. R. Tandon 31 October 19918 October 1992Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.34Rear Admiral Madhvendra Singh 8 October 199211 January 1994Later Chief of the Naval Staff.35Rear Admiral R. N. Ganesh 11 January 199428 April 1995Later Fortress Commander, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Director General of the Indian Coast Guard and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.36Rear Admiral John Colin De Silva 29 April 199518 September 1996Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.37Rear Admiral Madan Jit Singh 19 September 199616 October 1997Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.38Rear Admiral Yashwant Prasad 17 October 199720 October 1998Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.39Rear Admiral Sureesh Mehta 20 October 19981 April 2000Later Chief of the Naval Staff.40Rear Admiral Sangram Singh Byce 1 April 200010 September 2001Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.41Rear Admiral Jagjit Singh Bedi 10 September 200115 January 2003Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.42Rear Admiral Vijay Shankar 15 January 20033 May 2004Later Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command and Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Forces Command.43Rear Admiral Pratap Singh Byce 3 May 200411 May 200544Rear Admiral R. F. Contractor 11 May 200515 March 2006Later Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.45Rear Admiral Anup Singh 15 March 200613 March 2007Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.46Rear Admiral Shekhar Sinha 14 March 200724 January 2008Later Chief of Integrated Defence Staff and Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.47Rear Admiral Anil Chopra 24 January 200827 November 2008Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.48Rear Admiral Surinder Pal Singh Cheema 27 November 200831 August 2009Later served as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command, Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Forces Command, Chief Of Integrated Defence Staff and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.49Rear Admiral Rama Kant Pattanaik 1 September 200917 January 2011Later served as the Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff.50Rear Admiral Girish Luthra 18 January 201125 May 2012Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.51Rear Admiral Abhay Raghunath Karve 25 May 201215 August 2013Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.52Rear Admiral Anil Kumar Chawla 15 August 201330 September 2014Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.53Rear Admiral R. Hari Kumar 1 October 201412 October 2015Later Chief of the Naval Staff.54Rear Admiral Ravneet Singh 12 October 201515 October 2016Later Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff.55Rear Admiral R. B. Pandit15 October 201622 January 2018Later Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Forces Command .56Rear Admiral M A Hampiholi 22 January 201822 March 2019Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.57Rear Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh 22 March 201914 February 2020Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.58Rear Admiral Krishna Swaminathan 14 February 202024 February 2021Current Chief of the Naval Staff.59Rear Admiral Ajay Kochhar 24 February 202127 December 2021Current Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.60Rear Admiral Sameer Saxena 27 December 202115 November 2022Current Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.61Rear Admiral Vineet McCarty16 November 202210 November 2023Current Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command.62Rear Admiral C. R. Praveen Nair 10 November 202323 August 2024Current Controller of Personnel Services.63Rear Admiral Rahul Vilas Gokhale 23 August 202427 September 2025Current Chief of Staff, Western Naval Command.64Rear Admiral Vivek Dahiya 27 September 202527 July 2026Current Director General Project Seabird 65Rear Admiral Srinivas Maddula 27 July 2026PresentCurrent FOCWF.
See also Western Fleet Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet
References